


Baptiste Hotel

by werdwriter



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/F, Strangers to Lovers, inspired by the memories of the alhambra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:41:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28200066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/werdwriter/pseuds/werdwriter
Summary: As an apology for leaving her sister to run off to her many adventures, Leti gifts Ruby a small old rundown hotel in Spain. Leti promised that things would change. Ruby feels like a fool when her sister failed to keep her promise. Leti has abandoned her yet again and hasn’t reached out to her for over two years. Ruby struggles to keep the business afloat on her own until a mysterious tall blonde check into her hotel.A/N: Loosely based on a Korean drama, “Memories of the Alhambra.” I originally had plans to writes this story for Josie and Penelope from Legacies but I felt Ruby and Christina were a better fit for this story.Side note: The concept of the Book of Adam and magic is slightly different from the show. As well as Ruby’s and Christina’s backstory to fit the modern setting.
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Leti, I need to talk to you. Please call me back. This is serious. More serious than any adventure that you’re on right now. I need you. The business is not going to survive.” Ruby sighed heavily. She barely managed to keep her tears from falling. “I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry.”

Ruby ends the voice messages with shakiness still running through her body.

She had left an endless amount of voice and text messages on her sister’s phone and not one was ever been returned since her disappearance. 

She wanted to be angry and scream at her sister for leaving her in such a mess but she was just exhausted. She felt like giving up and go back home to the States and forget this sad attempt of having her own business in a beautiful foreign country. She was foolish to think this was going to be like a vacation. She thought she had found a place for early retirement.

Ruby sat back down at the reception desk, willing the bills that were covering her desk to just disappear. 

She opened one of her drawers and found a wine bottle that was placed there most likely by Leti. A celebratory drink for Ruby having her own business. Obviously, they never had the chance when Leti went running to her next adventure the next day. 

Ruby scoffed as she popped the cork. She took a long swig letting herself enjoy the sweet taste of alcohol, relishing in a small rare act of selfishness that she didn’t know she possessed. 

The red text on all the past due papers were blinding her eyes more and more as she continued to consumed almost half the bottle. 

“I guess I should share this with my sister.” Ruby lifted the bottle of wine, tipping it slightly over the spread on her desk that represented Leti and her ways to manipulate her into being the responsible one once again.

“Hey!” A young man jumped into her view.

The sudden appearance made Ruby jolt in her seat causing her to spill some of the wine content on herself and all over the overdue bills. 

“Shit, Andrew,” Ruby exclaimed picking up as many documents she could save. 

“Whoa sorry.” He held his hand up. “I didn’t know you drank. Can I have some?” 

“No!” Ruby yelled.

Andrew blinked in shock. He has never seen Ruby upset. Or even raised her voice.

Seeing his reaction Ruby softens. “I’m sorry, Andrew. I’m just a little stressed tonight.”

Andrew sneaked a peek at her desk but didn’t comment about it. He just wants to make Ruby happy again.

“Do you want to join us tonight? We went through your collection and Chuck Berry really inspired us. Can you play some for us?” Andrew asked innocently.

Ruby sighed. 

Her guests at the hotel were dwindled down to young struggling musicians who couldn’t afford her rates but she never had the heart to leave them on the streets. They were good kids and they tried to help out where they can. But they’re probably the reason, she failed in her business. 

“Not to today, Andrew. As you can see, I have other things I need to attend to.” Ruby gestured to her reception area with her now soiled papers.

“Okay well, I’ll let you get clean up then. We’ll try to keep the music down tonight.” Andrew told her with sympathy in his eyes. 

“Thanks, Andrew.” She gave him an appreciative smile.

Ruby started walking towards her room in the back when there was a loud sudden knock echoing the foyer grabbing both their attention. 

It was late. 

There shouldn’t be anyone checking in and also her guest were regulars who let her know ahead of time when they were dropping in. 

“It’s probably Marco wanting his room back after that shit he pulled on me.” Ruby shook her head. He knew the rules. No drugs. “Can you get rid of him for me while I change my clothes?”

“Yeah, I got you.”

Andrew looked through the peephole before he answered the door. His eyes widen when he didn’t see Marco on the other side as he expected.

“Um…Ruby?” He called her back before she could leave the room.

Ruby turn backed around was an exhausted look on her face.

“Yeah?”

Andrew took another look before addressing her, making sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him.

Nope.

This person was definitely not Marco.

“It’s not Marco,” Andrew told her.

A confused look was etched on her face. Who would be showing up at the hotel this late? It was almost midnight.

“It’s a tall…blonde…scary but a very beautiful white lady.” Andrew described. “She doesn’t look like she’s from Granada.” 

Andrew can see that Ruby was worried that she was a debt collector.

“She could be a lost traveler.” Andrew offered an alternative.

Ruby looked down at her ruined dress, upset that she wouldn’t at least be presentable as she greets her unknown guest even if it was a bill collector. She didn’t want to look like a complete mess to the people who called her every day non-stop but she didn’t have much of a choice. 

“I’ll take care of it. Tell the boys to keep the music down for me, will ya?” Ruby told him wiping her dress as dry as she could. 

Andrew nodded his head. “Good luck.”

Ruby waited until Andrew left the reception area before taking a deep breath gathering the last bit of energy she could muster after a long tiring day.

She glanced down at her stained dress once more. She couldn’t believe this is how things were going to end. 

After she’s kicked out of this place, she’ll hunt down her sister.

But for now, she must meet the woman that would end her.


	2. Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief background story of Christina.

Chapter 2

Flashback Two Days Ago

Christina has spent most of her life discovering and decoding all of Titus Braithwaite’s literature on magic and any other means he and his order have hidden all over the world dating back to the early 1900s. 

She had discovered her access to magic when she was in her teens. 

When her grandfather died, her father had acquired an old paper ripped in half that contains a portion of the language of Adam and hints to a few spells. Later he discovered it came from something called the Book of Names and it was linked all the way back to Titus. 

Christina grew up with only her father after her mother died in childbirth. But they spent little time with each other as her father soon became obsessed with Titus’ little scrap of paper when he realized the old myth of their family having access to magic might be true. He even tried to recreate his own order. They isolated themselves from the rest of the world. 

That’s when things became hell for Christina. Sons of Adams weren’t kind to women. 

Her father didn’t know what to do with her and instead hired a bunch of nannies to look after her. To keep her out of his way. And she was absolutely forbidden to be apart of the order or try to learn any spells. 

During her childhood, her father and the order never succeeded in performing any spells. 

Not one. 

The more he failed, the more he became distant and sometimes violent towards her.

There were times she really believed he has forgotten that she even existed.

Even at a young child, Christina was too smart for her own good. Maybe the ambition and stubbornness were passed down from her father. 

Christina broke into his lab one day when she was seven. At the time she thought she acted in desperation for her father’s love but later realized it had more to do with proving her worth to him. 

To convince him that he and his order were wrong about women. 

More importantly her. 

She took a picture of the page with an instant camera that one of her nannies secretly gifted her for her birthday eagerly wanting to take a crack on it. 

She thought maybe she could help. 

Even though her father quickly found out she sneaked into his lab and she was severely punished for it, he never suspected that she had a copy of Titus’ page. And his harsh treatment over the years didn’t deter her from her goal. 

When she was not busy with her daily strict schedule with the best private teachers that her dad hired for her, she would study that photograph for years. Until it became forever ingrained her memory. 

It wasn’t until she was in her teens that she completed a spell on her own. It was a tiny spell but she did something her father and the order never could. 

It was the only happiest moment she remembered feeling in her life. 

When she saw her pencil float in the air for a millisecond, her lips curved into the biggest smile hurting her cheeks. She doesn’t remember ever smiling before. And it suddenly became clear to her that her father had wrongfully disallowed her from everything. 

As she grew older, she despised her father more and more. A year had passed since her first spell and she had managed a few more. And a few more after that. It didn't take long until she gainned the confidence to finally come up with a plan to convince her father to send her to a boarding school so she can have better access to more resourceful material about magic. 

Christina knew the only way to get away from her father was coming up with a spell because he would never consider anything she would have to say. 

Desperation kicked in and whenever she heard that her father and the order acquired anything new related to the Book of Names, Christina had mastered a spell to make herself undetected into her father’s lab to make her own copy or memorize what she could and write it down later.

After a few months of trying to come up with a spell, Christina figured out that magic wasn’t necessarily needed in this particular situation. She had subtly been asking one of her teachers, who grew a great fondness towards her, about the schools he had previously worked at.

Unbeknownst to her, her curiosity influences his suggestion to her father, who without question, agreed and made plans for her to attend boarding school in Boston. 

As much as she was excited about finally leaving her father and being able to get away from the order, she couldn’t help but be angry that a simple ordinary man with no magic had succeeded at something she could never. 

It took her months to even come up with a plan. 

She had little time to reflect on that detail as her father had already arranged everything by the next week.

Christina didn’t waste any time or opportunity. Despite being isolate from the world, she adjusted to life rather quickly. She was a fast learner. And she wanted to experience everything. 

Years have passed quickly for Christina. She had come across a lot of useful materials through her research but so has her father. Before she left, she had secretly spelled a mirror in her father’s lab wanting to know everything he has collected concerning the Book of Names while she was gone. He had finally succeeded in performing his own spells and he was convinced that it was because Christina was out of his life. Enticing him to keep her away. 

Christina became more anxious the closer her father was to become “Adam”. She was afraid he would become too powerful and would threaten her own powers. She knew she would have to stop him.

And she did. 

Years later.

Right before he could finish performing his spell that he concocted to open the door to the Garden of Eden, Christina disguised herself as a man and pretended to be part of the order before manipulating the blood that was inside vital to make sure he would fail. She didn’t even take the time to enjoy the shocked look on his face when it all backed fired on him. She watched with an emotionless expression on her face as the only member of her family that she had ever known turned into stone. She then turned her attention to the members of the order who scattered out of the burning mansion as fast as they could. 

Some escaped, but Christina didn’t worry too much about them. They were nothing without the order. She took her time over the years to hunt them all down. Before the destruction, she gathered everything from her father’s lab and she noticed items were missing. She knew her father’s associates had grabbed them whilst acting like loyal members to her father’s cult.

Fast forward to today, Christina has arrived at a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Owned by the last member standing. 

Horace Hearst. 

Christina had to give him some credit. He had been smarter than the others. But they were never smarter than her. 

Simultaneously, the front door of the house opens when she stepped out of her silver car. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Horace spatted out wearing a menacing glare while pointing a shotgun at her. 

Unfazed by his threat, Christina gestured at his home. “I can see why you would try to create an invisibility spell for this place. It’s lovely.”

“How did you find me?” He asked trying to keep the fear out of his voice. 

Christina smiled sardonically. 

“The language of Adam can be a bit tricky. Any small error can cause a massive deviation to the original conception.” Christina walked around inspecting his home. “To be fair it did take me a while.”

“Not long enough.” He gritted through his teeth. 

He hated how unperturbed she was.

“Your home is not invisible to others, Mr. Hearst. It just has this horrendous stench to it. Stretching as long as a football field. That’s why no one’s been around.” Christina told him with amusement in her voice. “Don’t worry, I fixed that for you.”

“You’re not getting inside here bitch, so leave my property now or you’re going to get your pretty head blown off.” He warned her.

Christina stared at him with a daring look.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” 

Tilting her head to the side, Christina watched blankly as he struggled to pull back the trigger. There was a subtle jerk in his hand but other than that he was paralyzed. Sweat began dripping down his face and his eyes widen when he realized he was completely vulnerable. 

Christina pursed her lips as she allowed herself a moment in enjoying his suffering.

“I shouldn't be long. I’m assuming everything is in the basement?” Christina let herself into his home without waiting for an answer. 

———

When she stepped inside Horace’s basement, Christina was quite shocked to find there were more material and resources on magic and more important clues to where she may find Titus’ Book of Names than she originally thought. She may have to be thankful for his greediest for the sole reason her father never had access to more magic. She shudders to think how powerful he could have been and how he would succeed in his spell if all of this had been in his possession.

Her eyes swept the basement for any hints on where she could find Titus’ Book of Names. There must be something here. Her fingers lazily dragged along the stacks of paper laying around. She noticed all the failed attempts made to translate the language of Adam. 

Even with all this, Horace wasn’t even close to becoming as powerful as she was. 

What a waste. 

Christina continued to browse around not knowing what exactly she was looking for. Out of all the members, she had an unexplainable instinct that there would be something here to lead her to the Book of Names. Her frustration began to grow after a while when she still hadn’t found anything. She pursed her lips and began prepping her spell to transfer all of this to her car. 

She’ll have to go through it all later. 

——-

After she was finished, she walked back outside where Horace was still paralyzed on the front porch. He was still rooted in the exact same position he was when she left him, still holding the gun in his hand. Screaming and cursing at her. Under her breathe, she chanted another spell as she made her way towards him. Loud enough for him to hear. And based on her findings in his basement, she knew he would know the exact spell she was casting. 

And she walked by him, she roughly yanked his shotgun out of hands without breaking her stride towards her vehicle.

“I was going to make your death merciful but I was just so disappointed in you,” Christina told him as she leaned against her car. 

The flames quickly spread through his house, thanks to Christina’s spell and she knew it wouldn’t be long until he would burn along with it. His screams were louder but Christina was unbothered. She just stood watching was without emotion with his gun lying next to her. The scene didn’t amuse her, she just had to make sure he didn’t make it out of this. She had made that mistake before. 

Once she confirmed he was dead, she looked at the gun that was just a few minutes ago pointed at her. It wasn’t the first time. A couple of times she had actually been shot by them. It’s probably why she hated them. 

She picked it up and made her way to the burning house to toss it in the fire. But before she did, she noticed a small indention on the butt of the gun that she didn’t catch earlier. Pressing lightly on the area, it popped opened and revealed a small case with the same protection symbol that had been on everything that has been found concerning the Book of Names. 

Christina smiled.

“I knew it.” She whispered to herself. 

She picked it out of its spot and aimlessly toss the gun in the fire. She walked back to her car where she was safely away from the fire to inspect the case. 

When she was seated in her driver seat, she looked all over the dark black box to see how to open it. There wasn’t a latch or a lock. It was smooth all around. No indention insight. Christina tried a few spells that might open it but they all failed. She sat for a few minutes in thought, running everything she knew in her head of how to get this open. She was sure that Horace had never succeeded.

She looked at the symbol again. The design was the only type of marking on the case. It was a shade lighter than the color of the box. And then it just came to her. 

Blood. 

It was always blood.

Christina immediately took an earring off and without hesitation sliced her palm. She held her wounded hand over the case so her blood would drip on top of it. 

The blood quickly filled the crease made from the protection symbol and when it was complete, the case dissipated in her hands leaving behind an even smaller box. 

Without wasting time, Christina eagerly pulled back the lid to the box. In the box, there were contact lenses. Not any ordinary contact lenses but hi-tech. Definitely not from the 1900s. If she had to take a guess these were made by Caleb. Based on her research, He was the only other Braithwaite to have access to magic and then he disappears out of nowhere around the 80s. He was a genius, but this was amazing. Christina wonders briefly how he accomplished this.

She assumed Caleb had programmed this technology to keep all the information he had found about Titus’ book secured and hidden. It might be enough information itself for Christina to perform her spell of immortality. 

Christina didn’t wait any longer and placed them in her eyes. It was like a virtual computer. The device became activated a second after she had them in both eyes. A light blueish screen popped and a voice welcomed her. There was a small tutorial before she had to make a profile for herself. After all the steps were completed, the first instruction it gave her was an image of a map and the area boldly highlighted in red was of the city of Granada in Spain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Next chapter will have Ruby and Christina’s first interaction. I hope this chapter wasn’t too overwhelming. I felt like I need to explain some background before we can move forward.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any mistakes.  
> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.
> 
> The next Chapter will focus on Christina.


End file.
